Lesson 2: How do you create meaningful Student Learning Outcomes?

Developing Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Student Learning Outcomes describe what students will know or be able to do upon completion of the program. This not only includes the knowledge they will have but also the attitudes, values and skills they will have. According to Linda Suskie in her book, Assessing Student Learning:A Common Sense Guide effective SLOs have the following characteristics:

• They describe specific outcomes, not learning content or activities
• They use concrete, observable action verbs (Often using action verbs from Blooms taxonomy)
• They are rigorous, yet realistic
• They are a balanced set of learning outcomes. Not too broad so that they are difficult to assess or too detailed that the limit flexibility and adaptability to the curriculum
• They avoid fuzzy, nebulous and amibiguous terms, like Be aware of, Be familiar with, Understand
• They are concise, clear and easy to understand for students, faculty and others

To see an example of how to write an effective Student Learning Outcome, click on the link this link:

File:Developing Student Learning Outcomesv2.pdf

Use Bloom's Taxonomy to Identify the Action Verbs

Bloom's taxonomy is a hierarchical framework of cognitive skills that can help instructors identify the learning goals for their curriculum. The taxonomy moves from lower-order thinking skills, like knowledge and understanding to higher order thinking skills, like application, analysis, evaluation and creation. For each category, verbs have been identified for use in the development of SLOs. To see a list of verbs to use for each category, click on this link: File:Blooms Taxonomy 2024.pdf